Federal Emergency Management Agency: An Organization Prepared

The citizens of the United States face disaster every year. Whether man made, natural, large or small the individual states provide a first line of defense and response with their resources and by agreement, through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), the resources of neighboring states. When the incident is too large or the state's resources compromised to the point where the state cannot adequately respond to the event, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) facilitates access to national assets. The FEMA provides coordination for the federal response with an all hazards approach to disasters experienced by the U.S. In order to accomplish this mission FEMA routinely engages Department of Defense assets, specifically Title 10, which provides a robust and rapid response capability unavailable from any other source. This thesis examines FEMA's preparedness and ability to integrate these resources into the response plan. To accomplish this, the thesis explores the changes to FEMA between 1992 and 2007. This research also analyzes FEMA Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2008-2013 FEMA's 5-year plan projecting changes within the organization. FEMA is the nation's preeminent emergency management and preparedness agency but are they ready?